Heel turning machine



v Dec.'1, 1936. w HOWARD 2,062,416

HEEL TURNING MACHINE Filed Dec. 23, 1953 Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNiTED STATES 2,062,416 I-I'EEL TURNENG MACHINE Merton W. Howard, Haverhill, Mass, assignor to Pope Machinery Corporation, Haverhill, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application December 23, 1933, Serial No. 703,716

7 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for turning wood heels and more especially to a new and improved blank holding jack for use on such machines. The primary object of the invention is to produce a more compact and simplified blank holder or jack adapted to clamp blanks more'seourely and with less effort than has been possible heretofore, also to provide greatly simplified and more accurate means for adjusting the jack to take different heights and styles of blanks, thus effecting a substantial saving of time as well as a more accurate set-up.

In manually operated heel turning machines, the blank is clamped in the jack by a manual clamping operation and, as ordinarily arranged, the jack is mounted to be swung manually about the front of the cutter, whereupon the blank is brought into engagement therewith and the turning operation performed. Also, certain manual adjustments must be made on the jack to accommodate blanks of different styles or sizes.

It is obvious that the time required to adjust or set-up the jack for accommodating the particular style of blank to be turned and to clamp and unclamp the blanks is a direct deduction from the actual turning time and thereby a restriction on the output of the machine. And it is further obvious that time saved in these setting and clamping and unclamping operations can be applied to the actual turning operation, thus increasing production without adding to the total effort expended by the operator. Another object of the invention resides in the production of a more efficient jack for efiecting these improvements.

Briefly, the improved jack embodies a clamping lever and cooperating mechanism for effecting the clamping and unclamping of the blank with less manual movement and effort than has been possible heretofore. The jack furthermore embodies novel and relatively simple adjusting mechanisms including a new angular placement of the path of adjustment and cooperating indices whereby resettings for different heights of heels may be made with greater accuracy and in less time than has been possible with jacks heretofore known. As hereinafter more specifically described, these mechanisms are so constructed that, in the adjustment thereof for heels of different heights, the heel engaging clamps remain substantially within the average heightwise axis of the blanks, thus eliminating the necessity for transverse adjustment of either of said clamps and the objectionable effect thereof on the clamping mechanism.

A further feature of the invention resides in an improved form carried by the jack and serving to uide the latter and the blank in their movements relative to the cutters. Heretofore these forms have been so mounted on the jack that their removal and the substitution of other forms 5 have been considerable tasks, requiring also the removal of other parts. One object of this inven-. tion is the'production of an improved formso mounted on the jackthat the same can be removed and other forms substituted quickly and 1'0 simply and without disturbing'other parts of the jack.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment 15 thereof, selected for purposes of illustration'and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of as much of a ma?- chine of the type referred to as is necessary to an understanding of the present invention, the blank 2 holding jack thereof being shown in theblank clamping position;

Fig. 2 is a partial side view showing the jack in the open position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary isometric view of a 25 portion of the clamping parts;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a portion of the jack; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on Fig. 2.

A vertical shaft 2 rotatably mounted in any suitable manner in a heel turning machine carries a formed cutter 3 on its upper end. The'he'el blank holding jack is illustrated in side elevationadjacent to this cutter in Fig. 1. The frame or base 4 of the jack is hinged to and between two forks l of a member mounted on a vertical shaft 5, by a hinge pin 6, this base ordinarily being a plate mounted in a vertical plane. The shaft 5, ordinarily termed the jack shaft, is mounted in the usual conventional crane as used on heel turning machines in general.

Certain movements of the jack relative to'the cutter are controlled by a form or cam plate 8 carried on the shaft 5 at the base of the jack. When a heel of different style is to be operated upon, this form must be removed and another substituted therefor. Heretofore theseforms have been so constructed and mounted that these changing operations have involved considerable work and time, especially since the same required the removal of other parts. In accordance with my invention, the forms can be almost instantly removed and replaced, thereby eliminating the difiiculties and expense heretofore thereto.

The improved form 8 is a U-shaped plate having the outer edge IE of the closed U-end portion thereof curved to provide a guiding face for engaging and cooperating with a stop l2. The interior of the plate is recessed from said U-end portion to and through the opposite end, whereby to provide two legs l4 for sliding longitudinally into working position within guideways I5 on the jack. Clamping elements l6 and screws ll are provided in conjunction with the notched ends I8 of the legs, which provide surfaces parallel with the guideway, for holding the form in its innermost position, the working pressure against the edge Ill being directly and positively arrested by the edges I9, as will be understood. Changing of the form requires simply a loosening of the screws ll, whereupon the form can be directly withdrawn and another slid into its place.

The top face or edge of the base 4 provides, by means of an independent plate or otherwise, a blank support 23. Also mounted on the base 4 is a member 23, herein illustrated as made up of two side plates and embodying a straight and parallel sided portion 24 straddling the base and another portion 25 substantially overhanging the support 20. The member 23 is mounted for support and adjustment on the base, any suitable means forming a guideway therefor being provided. I have illustrated for this purpose a plurality of pins 22 inserted through the plate 4 and so spaced as to receive and guide the said portion 24 therebetween and in contact with opposed flats on the pins. Thus the member 23 may be adjusted up and down and may be secured in its adjusted positions by a clamping bolt 26 carried by the member 23 and extending through a slot 28 in the base.

A member 30, pivoted at 32 to and between the two plates of the member 23, extends forwardly and has a blank engaging face 33 provided thereon, as by means of an independent plate 34 secured by a bolt 36. The blank engaging face overhangs the support 20 whereby to hold a blank therebetween. A stop 40 is adjustably mounted on the base 4 by means of a bolt 42 extending through a slot 44, the stop being adapted to locate the heel blank by engagement with the breast thereof.

The member is operated in the blank clamping direction by a lever 52 pivoted at 54- to a block 56. This block is slidably mounted in an upwardly extending guideway 58 near and in the extreme forward end of the portion 25 of the member 23. A tension spring 46, having its ends anchored to the member 23 at 48 and to the incident member 30 at 53, serves to hold the member 33 upwardly in contact with the clamping lever. Upward movement of the block 56 is limited by a screw 60 threaded through a nut 64 pinned to and between the plates 23 by pins 66. A hand wheel 62 is provided on the upper end of the screw and the lower end of the screw is adapted directly to engage the block 56.

The clamping lever 52 has a cam portion 68 engaged by the member 30 under the action of the spring 46, the member 30 being provided with two relatively angular surfaces 69 and 10 against which the said cam portion 68 of the clamping lever rides successively during the clamping and unclamping movements thereof. The surface 69 is directly beneath the pivotal axis 54 and is normal to the shortest radius drawn thereto'from the pivotal axis. The relatively angular surface 10 may be formed in any convenient manner, as by cutting a notch H in the member 36, and this surface is located to one side of a line or plane coinciding with said shortest radius. These relatively angular surfaces and their cooperation with the cam 68 serve very important and useful functions, as hereinafter described.

A stop or stops, herein illustrated as the edge 80 of the base 4 and/or the cooperating edge 8! of the lever, serve to limit the downward and clamping movement of the lever 52. One or both of these edges are parallel to the path of adjustment of the member 23 in the guideway 22 when the lever is in the blank clamping position, whereby said edge or edges act as a stop for the lever uniformly in the different adjusted positions of the member 23. The lever is preferably provided with an operating handle 72 adjustable on the lever and along a slot 16 therein. Bolts 14 carried by the handle and extending through the slot serve to secure the handle in any of its adjusted positions. Upward swinging movement of the lever is limited by contact thereof with a shoulder 18.

One of the valuable features of my invention resides in a novel combination providing for the quick and accurate setting up of the jack to a new heel height and this combination embodies the use of two indices 82 and 84- carried by the portion 25 of member 23 and located to cooperate with the top edge of the block 56. The index 84- indicates the proper setting of the block 56 when adjusting or resetting the jack for a different height of heel blank and the index 32 indicates the normal working position of the block,

all as hereinafter described. The space between distance through which the face 33 is moved by the coacting surfaces 68 and 69, this distance usually being about inch.

While the clamp 34 may be adjusted slightly toward or away from pivot 32 without seriously affecting the leverage obtained in clamping the blank 86, any great amount of such adjustment would bedetrimental to the best results. With the clamp 34 in its normal position on member 30, as shown in Fig. 1, proper clamping is obtained on blank 86 with a normal hand pressure on handle 12. If, however, clamp 34 was extended or withdrawn any considerable distance from said normal position the hand pressure on the handle 72 necessary to properly clamp the blank would be increased or diminished accordingly. It is an object of this invention to devise and provide a path for the adjustment of the member 23 such that a minimum of adjustment of clamp 34 on member 3|! will be needed. From experiments made with a large number of commercially used heels, especially in the higher types. I have found that with the said path of adjustment disposed at an angle of about 114 to the plane of the face 20, little or no adjustment of the clamp 34 on member 30 is required to bring it into position properly to engage the various heights and styles of blanks encountered, thus securing the highest possible degree of uniformity of clamping leverage throughout the entire range of adjustment of member 23 on base 3 to accommodate the different heel blank heights.

The jack is shown in the open position in Fig. 2 and a heel blank 85 is illustrated as positioned on the support 26 and in contact with the stop 40, in which position the blank is ready to be clamped. In Fig. 1, the jack is shown in the "I (Fig. 2).

clamping position wherein the blank 86 is :held securely between the surfaces 33 and 2.0.

The operation and advantages of my improved jack maybe briefly'described as follows:

In Figs. 1 and 2, the jack is illustrated as set to the normal working position for operating on the heel blank 86, it being noted that the position of the block 56 is such that its top face tion during the working use of the jack.

"In the open position of the jack (Fig. 2), the clamping face 33 must be sufficiently spaced from the heel blank to allow the turned blank to be freely removed and replaced by another blank. Insuch position the face '33 is ordinarily spaced about 4 inch from the blank. When the face 33 is moved downwardly this distance to contact with the blank, it must necessarily be forced downwardly a further distance sufiicient to clamp the blank, this latter distance being ordinarily about inch. The former travel of the face 33 may, for convenience, be termed the idle range and the latter the clamping range, and it will be seen that the idle range of movement is about 80% and the clamping range about 20% of the total, also that little effort or work is required to operate the clamping member through the idle range.

In designing and constructing my improved jack, I have taken the above facts into consideration to .the end of greatly simplifying and reducing the work and effort required by the operator in the clamping and unclamping movements. Since little effortis required to move the clamping member 30 through its idle range, I

have so constructed the operating elements that a minor pivotal movement of the clamping lever .52 serves to perform this function. Also, since the clamping range embodies only a relatively small movement of the clamping member 30 but requires considerable pressure thereagainst, I

have soconstructed the operating elements as to utilize the major pivotal movement of the clamping lever 52 for performing this function. By such construction, the total pivotal movement of the clamping lever has been reduced to a minimum and the clamping effort required thereof has been spread over the major portion of such movement. It will be obvious that this improved combination results both in reducing the working motion and the effort required by the operator .in clamping and unclamping the blanks and in increasing the output of the machine by utilizing for cutting operations time heretofore taken up in the clamping and unclamping movements.

The mechanism which I have herein illustrated for performing these functions embodies the cam port-ion 68 of the clamping lever and the 00- operating and relatively angular surfaces 69 and on the clamping member 30. When the clamping lever is in its extreme upper position, the jack is open and the cam 68 rests on the surface Upon downward movement of the lever through a minor portion of its total travel, the cam 68 rides up the surface 10 to the surface 69, which movement brings the clamping face 33 into engagement with the blank. Completion of the downward movement of the lever, through the major portion of its travel, causes the cam 68' to ride across the surface 69'to a position in alignment with or slightly beyond the shortest radius from the axis 54 to the surface 69, in

.which position the blank is securely clamped. The'relation of the cam 68 and surface69; during. this latter movement gives theoperator a great mechanical advantage to effect a firm'clamping of the blank, as will be understood- Whereas other jacks heretofore known and used have required an extensive lever movement often as 'greatas 90 in order to secure a comfortable action, I have found, in actual shop practice, that with my improved jack, a clamping lever movement of 30 is sufficient.

Clamping jacks have been made that have had a short handle movement but required excessive pressure on the handle to effect theclamping operation. Other jacks provide. a relatively :light clamping effort but require a correspondingly longer handle movement. Both of these types of jacks cause excessive operator fatigue and retard production. By the use of the new and novel arrangement of two cams working together, each a on the other, in fixed cooperative relation, I have secured certain desired objects of the invention to a maximum degree, thereby greatly conserving the energy of the operator and increasing production. An average days work for a heel turner requires the clamping of about 3000 blanks with a pressure from 500 to 1000 pounds each. Consequently, my device, which substantially reduces the labor and time required for the clamping, represents a substantial advance in the heel turning art.

When a heel of different height is to be operated upon, the jack necessarily must be reset therefor. My invention contemplates a further saving of time and effort and a more-efficient and uniform operation by the provision of certain improved resetting elements combined withthe jack. This resetting operation in my improved jack is performed as follows:

The screw 60 is backed off an amount permitbly is lifted upwardly by hand sufficiently to permit the new heel blank to be placed in position on the surface 20. The heel blank is thus placed.

and the assembly lowered to engage the face 33 with the blank and rest the weight of the entire assembly thereon, with lever 52 in its lowermost position. The member 23 is then secured by tightening the locking bolt 26. The clamping lever 52 is raised and the screw 60 rotated forwardly to a position bringing the top face of the block 56 into alignment, with the index 82. The resetting operation is thereupon completed and the blank may be securely clamped bybringing the clamping lever down to the position of Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that the space between the two indices 82 and 8d represents the blank clamping distance through which the face 33 is moved by the coacting surfaces 68 and 69 of the clamping lever and this distance is usually about 1% inch. If a lighter or heavier clampingeffect is 'ust the lever holding assembly roughly to position and then, after clamping the assembly in sired clamping pressure. Such practice wastes time and results in inaccurate clamping of the blanks for two reasons, (1) the relationship between the contacting surfaces of the clamping lever and clamping member is variable, and (2) the two blank engaging faces may be placed out of parallel, resulting in insecure clamping and distortion of the blank. By establishing and maintaining the working location of the clamping lever axis, I am able to perform the clamping operations more efiiciently. It will also be understood that the adjusting mechanism of my improved jack is relatively simple and the use of the indices 82 and 84 not only assures uniform predetermined clamping but also saves considerable time in the resetting operation.

It will be noted that the stops 8ll8l limit the downward movement of the clamping lever. By making one of these stops, 8i! as illustrated, parallel to the path of adjustment of the member 23, the extreme downward and clamping position of the lever and the clamping action on the blank are the same in all positions of adjustment of the member 23. Thus all the advantages of my improved jack, as heretofore described, are retained throughout .the entire range of. blank heights. The slot 28 may be made of sufiicient length to accommodate all blanks in common use. The construction of my improved jack, as above described, renders the jack applicable to use on heels in general use or demand Without the use of certain adjustments heretofore required. The plate 34 may, however, be made adjustable for the purpose of accommodating special and unusual blanks, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A blank holding jack for wood heel turning machines, comprising a support for a heel blank, a clamping member mounted to move through an idle range to bring the same into contact with a blank on the support and through a relatively smaller range to clamp the blank against the support, means including a clamping lever and cooperating bearing surfaces arranged to force the clamping member into clamping engagement with the blank, said surfaces including a cam on the lever, a cooperating cam surface for moving the member through said idle range upon pivotal movement of the lever through a relatively minor distance, and another surface relatively angular to said cam surface and cooperating with the cam for completing the movement of the member through said smaller range to effect clamping of the blank upon a further pivotal movement of the lever through a relatively major distance.

2. A blank holding jack for wood heel turning machines, comprising a support for a heel blank, a pivotally mounted member having a heel engaging surface adjacent to its free end and in opposed relation to said support whereby to clamp a blank therebetween, and a clamping lever having a cam arranged to ride successively on two relatively angular surfaces on the member upon pivotal movement of the lever, initial forward movement of the lever acting through the cam and one of said surfaces to move the member through the greater portion of its travel toward the blank, the other surface being normal to the shortest radius drawn thereto from the pivotal .place, to adjust the axis of the lever more finely, by means of a screw, to a position giving the deaxis of the lever, and continued forward movement of the lever acting through the cam and said other surface to complete the movement of the member and effect clamping of the blank.

3. A blank holding jack for wood heel turning machines, comprising a base having a blank supporting face inclined between the vertical and horizontal, a member on the base having a portion thereof substantially overhanging said face, means on the base providing an upwardly extending guideway supporting said member for adjustment therealong, means movably carried by said member and having a blank engaging face overhanging the first-named face whereby to hold a blank therebetween, means including a lever pivoted to the overhanging portion of said member for forcing the blank engaging face into clamping engagement with the blank, means for adjusting the pivotal axis of the lever in the direction of the clamping force, relatively spaced indices on the said member for respectively indicating the normal working position of said axis and the proper position thereof for resetting the member to accommodate a blank of different height, and means for clamping the member in its adjusted positions.

4. In a blank holding jack for wood heel turning machines, a shaft supporting the jack for pivotal movement thereabout relative to a cutter, a U-shaped form carried by the shaft and straddling the shaft axis at the base of the jack, means providing guideways for receiving the two legs of the form, the form being freely slidable longitudinally within and from the guideways, and releasable means for securing the form in place in the guideways.

5. In a blank holding jack for wood heel turning machines, a shaft supporting the jack for pivotal movement thereabout relative to a cutter, a U-shaped form carried by the shaft and straddling the shaft axis at the base of the jack, means providing guideways for receiving the two legs of the form, the form being freely slidable longitudinally within and from the guideways, clamping elements carried by the jack and respectively engaging the legs of the form, and means for drawing the elements into clamping engagement with the legs for securing the form in place in the guideways.

6. In a heel turning machine having, in combination, a cutter, a jack shaft arranged to swing about an external axis located to one side of the cutter, and a rub collar located between the cutter and the jack shaft; a form on the jack shaft cooperating with the rub collar to determine the distance that the jack shaft shall swing toward the cutter, said form being of open U-shape with its bight extending around the jack shaft, and a clamping block shaped and arranged to clamp the form to the jack shaft.

7. In a heel turning machine having, in combination, a cutter, a jack shaft arranged to swing about an external axis located to one side of the cutter, and a rub collar located between the cutter and the jack shaft; a form on the jack shaft cooperating with the rub collar to determine the V distance that the jack shaft shall swing toward the cutter, said form being of open U-shape with its bight extending around the jack shaft to permit convenient removal thereof from the shaft, and means for securing the form to the jack shaft.

MERTON W. HOWARD. 

